The present invention relates generally to railway boxcars and, more particularly, to a railway boxcar for carrying bagged cement and similar types of lading.
Railway boxcars may be used to transport commodities and products which require protection from the elements and from breakage. Various boxcars are designed to carry general freight including automobile parts, lumber, grocery products, appliances, and other bulk materials. Products are frequently shipped across great distances over varying terrain. Frequently, products will shift and settle during transit.
In order to facilitate the use of mechanical equipment for loading and unloading, products will often be loaded upon pallets and/or stacked upon one another. Steel straps and shrinkwrap are frequently used to secure products to one another and their supporting pallets. Generally these products are transported using standardized boxcars which may comply with one or more specifications of the American Association of Railroads.
Accordingly, a need has arisen in the art for an improved railway boxcar. The present invention provides a railway boxcar that substantially eliminates or reduces problems associated with the prior railway boxcars used to ship bagged cement and similar types of lading.
In accordance with the present invention, a railway boxcar may be provided for transporting packaged products having generally uniform first and second perimeter dimensions. The railway boxcar may include a car body having an interior compartment defined in part by a floor and a plurality of sidewalls. In one embodiment, the floor may include a width which generally corresponds to a multiple of the first perimeter dimension and a length which generally corresponds to the sum of a second multiple of the first dimension and a third multiple of the second dimension. In another embodiment a door opening may provide access to the interior compartment. The width of the door opening may generally correspond to a fourth multiple of the first perimeter dimension.
In yet another embodiment, a panel assembly may be provided to selectively fill voids within the interior compartment. The panel assembly may include a plurality of elongate plates extending generally parallel with one another. A corrugated panel may also be provided between the two plates and extend generally parallel therewith. At least one gusset may be coupled with at least one of the elongate plates to reinforce the panel assembly.
In still another embodiment, an elongate slot may be disposed within at least one elongate plate. A pin-type connector may be provided to couple the panel assembly with the railway boxcar. The elongate slot may cooperate with the pin-type connector to allow the panel assembly to be rotated from a first position in which the panel assembly is generally parallel with the sidewall, and a second position wherein the panel assembly is generally perpendicular to the sidewall.
Technical advantages of the present invention include a railway boxcar having a floor with a width and a length which generally correspond to respective multiples of first and second perimeter dimensions of packaged products to be transported therein. The length and width of the floor allow packaged products to be securely stored within the interior compartment during transit. Predetermined spacing between adjacent packaged products, gaps adjacent to each sidewall and a void space above the packaged products may allow for simplified loading/unloading.
Another technical advantage of the present invention includes a panel assembly removably attached to the boxcar to selectively fill void spaces adjacent to the sidewalls to prevent shifting and settling of package lading during transit.